Richard Nixon Born: January 9, 1913
Died: April 22, 1994
Political Party: Republican
Term of Office: November 5, 1968-August 9, 1974
Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew (first term) & Gerald Ford (second term)
Richard Nixon was a man of conservatism, internal conflict, and experience. Although some say that he is ranked as the 38th best president, he did have a few very successful domestic and foreign policies. For that reason he deserves a “C” for his overall presidency.
President Nixon, while against racial integration and a laissez-faire Supreme Court he did focus all of his energy on “returning to order, stability, and decency in America.” In order to achieve these goals he scaled back on progressive reforms, removed troops from Vietnam, and centered in on a détente between the U.S. and its Cold War enemies. He considered himself to be a representative of the “silent majority.” The silent majority which is apparent in the following quote; “We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at each other-until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices…” He prevented a liberal Supreme Court by electing various conservative officials, but in his second term he failed to change the view that America has a lot wrong with it and very little that is right due to the shocking Watergate Scandal.
President Nixon had a less than positive relationship with congress. Not only did they end the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which pushed the steady pace for ending the war, but they also helped uncover much unknown information about the Watergate scandal which led to his inevitable resignation. If it weren’t for Congress one could argue the fact that Nixon would not have resigned from office in the first place. Another conflict with congress was passing legislation. During his presidency Nixon vetoed 43 bills and 7 of them were overridden. Some of the pieces of legislation that were passed include Consumer Product Safety Act, The Organized Crime Control Act, The Environmental Quality Policy Act, and the ratification of the 26th constitutional amendment. Overall the Nixon’s relationship with Congress was shaky and strained at best.
The best and most effective decision made by Nixon’s administration had to be in getting out of The Vietnam War. Nixon not only withdrew troops from the war, but he also expanded the fighting into Cambodia and Laos. He also put a Vietnamization program in place which required South Vietnamese forces to be trained and equipped to take over the spots of exiting U.S. troops. Within one year over 200,000 troops were removed from Vietnamese soil. Later the president enunciated the Nixon Doctrine that reduced the presence of U.S. troops throughout all of Asia. Despite a growing wave of violent protests against Vietnamization, Congress continued to push the end of the war by way of repealing the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. By August of 1972 all but one regiment of U.S. troops had been withdrawn. A peace agreement was established between The U.S. National Security Adviser and a North Vietnamese representative that called for the release of all U.S. forces, prisoners, a cease fire, U.S. civilian presence in South Vietnam, and U.S. aid for the reconstruction of North Vietnam. Even though all but the later part of the agreement was carried out fighting between South and North Vietnam quickly resumed. All in all the war cost the U.S. 58,000 dead, 304,000 wounded, and $110 billion.
In contrast to Nixon’s best administrative decision his worst would have to be the infamous Watergate scandal. On that fateful June 17th of 1972 five agents of the Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP) were arrested while in the act of “burglarizing the democratic National Headquarters at the water gate complex in Washington, D.C. Even though it was dismissed by the Washington as “a third-rate burglary attempt” it led to the unraveling of the worst political scandal in U.S. history. Over the next two years an innumerous amount of misdeeds committed either by or in the name of Nixon were disclosed; the bugging of the Democratic headquarters at Watergate, the existence of a White House “plumbers” unit, and the existence of an Enemies List. The truth would not have been known if it was not for the installment of a very elaborate White House taping system installed by Nixon himself. President Nixon had been denying any wrong-doing in throughout the trial, but when asked to turn over the tapes he refused citing executive privilege. The Supreme Court later ordered him to release the tapes, but a mysterious 18.5 minute gap was apparent on one of the tapes. Nixon later regretted not destroying the tapes. At the end of the scandal multiple officials from his administration including Nixon resigned.
Nixon’s decisions surrounding nuclear arms were by far his most influential. In 1970 the Seabed treaty was passed. The United States, Soviet Union, and other countries agreed to ban nuclear weapons from international waters. The Chemical weapons treaty in 1971 like the Seabed Treaty went into effect in 1972 and was between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It promised to destroy stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and to put an end to their development. One of the biggest agreements is the SALT agreement of 1972. In May of that year Nixon and Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev signed two agreements that at the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. The agreements stated that both countries could only have two ABM sites and that there location and quantity at each location was limited. Secondly, both countries had to “freeze the number of strategic offensive ballistic missiles.” Despite all of the other limitations and requirements it did not mandate an “on-site inspection to ensure compliance.” Overall the negotiations/agreements ended the Cold war and prevented later generations from entering another war.
In summation one could say that Nixon was a great president ruined by scandal. If it were not for the Watergate scandal he would be ranked a great deal higher. His best decisions most definitely revolve around withdrawing from the Vietnam War and limiting nuclear weaponry. Nixon once said that “once a man has been in politics, once that’s been in his life, he will always return if the people want him” but after the atrocities of the Watergate scandal were revealed he could not be trusted and the American people no longer wanted him as their president. For these reasons it is very clear for one to see that Nixon most definitely deserves a “C” average for his overall presidency.
Richard Nixon
Born: January 9, 1913
Died: April 22, 1994
Political Party: Republican
Term of Office: November 5, 1968-August 9, 1974
Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew (first term) & Gerald Ford (second term)
Richard Nixon was a man of conservatism, internal conflict, and experience. Although some say that he is ranked as the 38th best president, he did have a few very successful domestic and foreign policies. For that reason he deserves a “C” for his overall presidency.
President Nixon, while against racial integration and a laissez-faire Supreme Court he did focus all of his energy on “returning to order, stability, and decency in America.” In order to achieve these goals he scaled back on progressive reforms, removed troops from Vietnam, and centered in on a détente between the U.S. and its Cold War enemies. He considered himself to be a representative of the “silent majority.” The silent majority which is apparent in the following quote; “We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at each other-until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices…” He prevented a liberal Supreme Court by electing various conservative officials, but in his second term he failed to change the view that America has a lot wrong with it and very little that is right due to the shocking Watergate Scandal.
President Nixon had a less than positive relationship with congress. Not only did they end the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which pushed the steady pace for ending the war, but they also helped uncover much unknown information about the Watergate scandal which led to his inevitable resignation. If it weren’t for Congress one could argue the fact that Nixon would not have resigned from office in the first place. Another conflict with congress was passing legislation. During his presidency Nixon vetoed 43 bills and 7 of them were overridden. Some of the pieces of legislation that were passed include Consumer Product Safety Act, The Organized Crime Control Act, The Environmental Quality Policy Act, and the ratification of the 26th constitutional amendment. Overall the Nixon’s relationship with Congress was shaky and strained at best.
The best and most effective decision made by Nixon’s administration had to be in getting out of The Vietnam War. Nixon not only withdrew troops from the war, but he also expanded the fighting into Cambodia and Laos. He also put a Vietnamization program in place which required South Vietnamese forces to be trained and equipped to take over the spots of exiting U.S. troops. Within one year over 200,000 troops were removed from Vietnamese soil. Later the president enunciated the Nixon Doctrine that reduced the presence of U.S. troops throughout all of Asia. Despite a growing wave of violent protests against Vietnamization, Congress continued to push the end of the war by way of repealing the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. By August of 1972 all but one regiment of U.S. troops had been withdrawn. A peace agreement was established between The U.S. National Security Adviser and a North Vietnamese representative that called for the release of all U.S. forces, prisoners, a cease fire, U.S. civilian presence in South Vietnam, and U.S. aid for the reconstruction of North Vietnam. Even though all but the later part of the agreement was carried out fighting between South and North Vietnam quickly resumed. All in all the war cost the U.S. 58,000 dead, 304,000 wounded, and $110 billion.
In contrast to Nixon’s best administrative decision his worst would have to be the infamous Watergate scandal. On that fateful June 17th of 1972 five agents of the Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP) were arrested while in the act of “burglarizing the democratic National Headquarters at the water gate complex in Washington, D.C. Even though it was dismissed by the Washington as “a third-rate burglary attempt” it led to the unraveling of the worst political scandal in U.S. history. Over the next two years an innumerous amount of misdeeds committed either by or in the name of Nixon were disclosed; the bugging of the Democratic headquarters at Watergate, the existence of a White House “plumbers” unit, and the existence of an Enemies List. The truth would not have been known if it was not for the installment of a very elaborate White House taping system installed by Nixon himself. President Nixon had been denying any wrong-doing in throughout the trial, but when asked to turn over the tapes he refused citing executive privilege. The Supreme Court later ordered him to release the tapes, but a mysterious 18.5 minute gap was apparent on one of the tapes. Nixon later regretted not destroying the tapes. At the end of the scandal multiple officials from his administration including Nixon resigned.
Nixon’s decisions surrounding nuclear arms were by far his most influential. In 1970 the Seabed treaty was passed. The United States, Soviet Union, and other countries agreed to ban nuclear weapons from international waters. The Chemical weapons treaty in 1971 like the Seabed Treaty went into effect in 1972 and was between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It promised to destroy stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and to put an end to their development. One of the biggest agreements is the SALT agreement of 1972. In May of that year Nixon and Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev signed two agreements that at the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. The agreements stated that both countries could only have two ABM sites and that there location and quantity at each location was limited. Secondly, both countries had to “freeze the number of strategic offensive ballistic missiles.” Despite all of the other limitations and requirements it did not mandate an “on-site inspection to ensure compliance.” Overall the negotiations/agreements ended the Cold war and prevented later generations from entering another war.
In summation one could say that Nixon was a great president ruined by scandal. If it were not for the Watergate scandal he would be ranked a great deal higher. His best decisions most definitely revolve around withdrawing from the Vietnam War and limiting nuclear weaponry. Nixon once said that “once a man has been in politics, once that’s been in his life, he will always return if the people want him” but after the atrocities of the Watergate scandal were revealed he could not be trusted and the American people no longer wanted him as their president. For these reasons it is very clear for one to see that Nixon most definitely deserves a “C” average for his overall presidency.
Works Cited
"American President: Richard Milhous Nixon." Miller Center of Public Affairs. 27 May 2010 <http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/nixon>.
Clark, Ross. "The Greatest US Presidents - The Times US presidential rankings - Times Online." Times Online | News and Views from The Times and Sunday Times. 28 May 2010 <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5055404.ece?token=null&offset=36&page=4>.
DeGregorio, William A. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. 7th ed. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade, 2009. Print.
"List of United States presidential vetoes." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 27 May 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_vetoes>.
"The President and Congress." History Learning Site. 2000. 28 May 2010 <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/pres2.htm>.
"Richard M. Nixon." The White House. 27 May 2010 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/richardnixon>.
"SparkNotes: SAT Subject Test: U.S. History: Richard Nixon in Office." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. 2009. 27 May 2010 <http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/sat2/history/chapter21section1.rhtml>.